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No 6 Grenade - Stripped

siegfreid

HONOURED MEMBER RIP
Premium Member
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Just dusting off a few old grenades & thought members might like to see this . It's a No 6 that actually comes apart . Stamped to the base J & Co for Jarman & Co who , I believe , were the only contractor for the 6 . Quite a rare example .
 
Hello,

Really not an expert, but with such a tin inside, could it be a No 7 ?

Regards
 
Thank you Minenaz16 . You are absolutely correct . My apologies for not noticing when I took it apart . Must be getting old ! It is , however, clearly stamped for Jarman & Co & my notes suggest they only made No 6's & all the No 7's were made by Ewart& Sons [I have a No7 marked with their E & S stamp] . Perhaps Jarman did make some 7's as well . I suspect Tom may have production figures for both & may be able to shed some light on this anomaly ? Siegfreid .
 
The attached shows the production details to July 1915 of empty grenades: 50,000 of each of the No.6 (1lb) and No.7 (2lb), produced from March through May. Jarman had the War Office contract for the light grenade and Ewart the one for the heavy. Filling was carried out at Woolwich and deliveries to the fronts (BEF and MEF) were slow, even slower than the early Mills grenade deliveries. The documented evidence would suggest that no more than 50,000 of each grenade were produced.


There is very little written about the development of the Nos 6 and 7 grenades, so the following might be of interest, tending to suggest once the first 100,000 empties were delivered to Woolwich, and reports came back from the front as to their use, enthusiasm for organising further production disappeared.


A memo of 20 May 1915 from C-in-C, Army in the Field, France had this to say about the Nos 6 and 7: "As regards the method of firing the universal complaint is that the strength of the "pull off" varies considerably and is extremely hard. A good hard pull from the knees is necessary and often two men are required to do it! Consequently the wire loop provided is not strong enough, it often breaks, and in any case cuts the fingers."

According to Colonel Louis Jackson, Director General TW Department, 14 September 1915, "Nos 6 and 7 (time) grenades are made at Woolwich, where the output is limited. Efforts have been made to get these grenades made by the trade, without success. Drawings and specifications of these grenades have not been supplied to this department."

22 October, Jackson added, "We received drawings a fortnight ago with the notification that the drawings and specification sent had not been approved and sealed. It is not clear how we can proceed to call for tenders (from the trade) on unsealed drawings and specification, either for the grenade or the igniter."

Further interest in the Nos 6 and 7 was allowed to wither on the vine. The Mills grenade, for all its flaws, proved far more popular with the troops and became the time grenade requested above all others by the Army high command. From September 1915, the delivery returns from Woolwich for the Nos 6 and 7are nil, and the grenades cease to appear in the documentary record.




Tom.
 

Attachments

  • Nos 6 and 7, bits and bobs.jpg
    Nos 6 and 7, bits and bobs.jpg
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